


Why Avarice?

by Thatonegothynerd



Series: Adventures of The Scarred [13]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-07 01:15:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18400154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatonegothynerd/pseuds/Thatonegothynerd
Summary: Arabella knows she can't outrun her pursuers on foot. A wagon ahead might offer salvation, but at what cost?





	Why Avarice?

Run. That was the only thought in Arabella’s mind as she raced through the untamed land outside of the only home she had ever known. There was no room in her mind right now for thoughts of fathers being left, blond haired betrayers, or kind, red-eyed strangers. She had been running for what felt like hours as fast as she could, yet she still wasn’t safe. She wondered if safe was ever something she would feel again. No time for that now. She had to keep focused on putting one foot in front of the other. 

It was dark out. She knew she couldn’t keep this pace up for much longer, but there was no time to rest. The darkness wouldn’t last forever and if she stopped she was dead. It was that simple. She felt a cramp in her calf that slowed her as her lungs heaved from the amount of air she was pushing through them. No, she couldn’t keep this up much longer. 

As she ran, Arabella had made sure to keep far enough from the road that she was hard to see, but not so far that she lost her sense of direction. She was so exhausted by the time she saw the wagon parked just off the path, she thought she might be hallucinating it. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath and steady her breathing before creeping closer to the covered wooden wagon. It was real, and so was the man asleep inside of it. She froze when she saw him, praying her footsteps had been silent enough not to wake him. He turned in his sleep and she saw he was a human man. He had short brown hair and a beard and was quite unremarkable.

The inside of the wagon was loaded with chests. Arabella stepped as quietly as she could towards the closest one and opened it slowly and silently as she could. Inside were several swords, of what type Arabella had no clue, nor did she care. She just knew it could be useful. She took it out of the box and turned to find a different sword already aimed at her face. 

“Put the sword down sweetheart, and no one has to get hurt,” the man said, clearly having heard her enter the small space.

Arabella did as she was told and placed the weapon back into the box without taking her eyes off of the man. 

“There you go. Now get out, and don’t try and steal from me again.” There was a finality in the way he spoke that threw Arabella into a panic.

“No please! I just need to get away from here.” She felt tears welling up in her eyes again. “I can’t keep running and I don’t want to die.”

Something in the man’s face shifted ever so slightly as she began to cry. 

“Okay stop. I’m too damn tired for this right now.” The man ran a hand over his face and sighed. “Gods dammit,” he said to himself. “Alright, alright. I’ll help you out.” The man pointed to a large crate in the corner. “Get in there and no one will find you. It has a false bottom.”

Arabella opened the crate and it did seem too shallow for its size.

“There’s a small button on the right hand side,” the man said through a yawn. “The space in there isn’t comfortable, but you’ll fit well enough.”

She did as he said and sure enough there was a compartment underneath the bottom of the crate. Arabella stepped inside, afraid she wouldn’t fit inside with her horns, but the man was right, she fit. 

“We’ll talk about how you owe me in the morning, but you should be fine for tonight in there,” the man said, replacing the lid on the crate. 

Arabella listened and heard him talking quietly to himself.

“You’ve always been a sucker for a pretty face, Jace. One of these days it’s gonna get you killed.”

…

A few hours later, Jace opened the top of the crate again and there was sunlight streaming in behind him. 

“There’s no one on the road right now; you might want to take this opportunity to stretch. It’s gonna be a long ride to Turst Fields,” Jace said.

Arabella got out of the crate and felt the stiffness in her joints from just a few hours in the confining space. It was indeed going to be a very long ride. 

“Thank you,” Arabella said. Her voice was quiet and soft, so different than what Jace had been expecting from her. 

“I don’t accept ‘thank yous’ as payment. I expect some gold from you before we go anywhere,” Jace said, holding a hand out expectantly.

“I only have a few silver,” as she spoke Jace opened his mouth to interject, but she cut him off. “Please I can get a job once I’m away from here and I’ll pay anything you want. I just can’t stay here.” Jace could see the silver lining her eyes as she pleaded. He sighed.

“I don’t do anything for free sweetheart, that’s something you should learn right off the bat: never do anything without payment,” he paused for a moment, thinking. “Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll get you to Turst Fields, no money necessary, but you will owe me a favor.”

“What kind of a favor?” Arabella asked with trepidation.

“I don’t know yet. But you should know I always collect and I never forget a favor owed.”

Arabella didn’t even have to consider it. “Done.” This was her only real choice.

“Alright then. Get back in the crate. I’ll let you out at night fall when I make camp.”

“I know I can’t pay you in thank yous, but I really am grateful for your help, Jace.” Arabella said before climbing into the crate again. 

“Well,” he said, sounding vaguely surprised, “you know my name it seems, and I have no objections to just calling you sweetheart, but what is your name?”

Arabella paused for a moment before responding, “Anna. My name is Anna.”

“Anna, huh?” Jace said, clearly not buying it. “Okay ‘Anna’. You don’t have to worry about anything. We’ll be safely in Turst Fields before you know it.” Jace replaced the lid on the crate and Arabella was cast into darkness again. A few moments later she heard Jace say a command to his horse and the wagon started moving.

Soon. She’d be safe soon. 

…

A day of travel is a very long time when you’re left with nothing but your thoughts. Arabella tried very hard to keep herself occupied. She started by counting the boards above her on the crate, 37, but that didn’t take very long. Then she moved on to the nails, 148, and tried to look for interesting designs in the wood, but all too soon her mind wandered. She thought of her father and his wonderful stories. She remembered how he told people she was headed to the docks as she hid under the beds and the silver coins he pressed into her hand as he pointed her towards the road and said to run. She remembered the tears in his eyes and he kissed her forehead and said he loved her. She would see her father again, she had to. She needed to tell him how sorry she was for everything that happened to him because of her. She needed to tell him how much she loved him, that he was the best parent she ever could have asked for. She knew it would take some time before she could see him again, but she had to tell him. 

Then her thoughts took a much darker turn as she remembered why she had to run. She couldn’t even think his name without feeling a sob rise up in her throat. He had framed her. He had called her a murderer. The man she thought loved her called her a monster. He had taken everything away from her, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to hate him. She could only feel the pain of his betrayal and blame herself. She shouldn’t have trusted him. She shouldn’t have believed his lies. She never should have let herself love. It only lead to hurt. 

Arabella spent all day alone with these thoughts swirling in her mind and feeling the tears run down her face in the dark. She was so wrapped up in her own pain that she didn’t even realize that the wagon had stopped until there was suddenly moonlight above her. 

“Alright we should be safe here tonight I picked a spot that -” Jace suddenly took in her appearance. “Anna? Are you hurt?”

Arabella took a moment to wipe her eyes with the torn sleeve of her dress before responding. 

“No, I’m not hurt.” As she spoke Arabella could hear the tremble in her own voice. 

“Well… good. I take pride in not damaging what I’m transporting,” Jace responded.

“You can get out of the crate again. We should be safe here for the night.”

Arabella got out of the crate and stretched out her muscles, feeling the stiffness that came from her confinement. Jace rooted around in the back of the wagon until he found a water skin and some dried meat. He said on the edge of the wagon and held them out to her. She took them and sat next to him. She drank deeply, not realizing how parched she was, and ate what was handed to her. He watched her in quiet contemplation as she ate then cleared his throat.

“So, seeing as I’m risking my neck to get you to Turst Fields, what exactly are you running from?” He asked. 

Arabella took a long while to think before she spoke, again in that soft and quiet voice. “Everything. They said I did something terrible and said I was a monster, but you have to believe me I didn’t do anything.”

“I don’t care what you did or didn’t do. I don’t care if you’re guilty or innocent. I just need to know who I should be wary of.”

“The town of Drynna, and,” his name got caught in her throat for a moment, “a man named Vasily Rhodor.” Speaking it aloud broke her heart all over again. He had blamed her. 

“Really, Drynna? That town of backwater hypocrites?” Jace let out a whistle. “No wonder they’re out for your blood. Those people think Gnomes aren’t to be trusted, I can’t imagine they’re very friendly to tieflings. Why would you ever go to a place like that?”

“I was born there, or at least near there. I lived there all my life.”

“Huh. Sounds like a pretty shitty way to grow up, surrounded by bigots.”

Arabella nodded silently in response and Jace went quiet too. A few minutes passed before Jace spoke.

“Well, I’m going to sleep. You’re welcome to cram in the back with me, if you like,” Jace gave a wink as he spoke and Arabella responded with a horrified expression. Jace laughed. “Or not. You can sleep out here if that suits you better. The sooner I get to sleep, the sooner we can hit the road tomorrow and I can get you out of my hair.” He got up from his seat at the wagon’s edge and rolled out a mat on the small open floor space in the back. He reached behind a stack of small boxes and pulled out a blanket.

“Here,” he said, handing the blanket to Arabella. “So you don’t have to sleep directly in the dirt.”

She took the blanket, thanking him, as he waved her off and got comfortable on his makeshift bed. Arabella took her blanket and spread it out on the side of the wagon farthest from the road, effectively hiding herself from it and tried her best to fall asleep.

…

The next morning passed uneventfully and it was mid day by the time the wagon finally rolled into Turst Fields. That morning Jace told Arabella that he needed to speak to a man in town before he snuck her out, meaning she would be in the crate for slightly longer than she had hoped, but she was in no position to object. 

It wasn’t long after she heard the first noises of civilization that the wagon stopped. She heard Jace get down from the driver’s seat and greet someone. She heard two sets of footsteps enter the back of the wagon and Jace speaking. At first, the conversation sounded like complete gibberish, until she heard a familiar phrase. They were speaking in a language of codes Vasily had taught her a few years ago so that they could send each other messages. She had never heard it spoken aloud before, so she had to run each sentence through her mind and try and decode it. 

“I have the weapons you requested, Arobynn,” she heard Jace say. 

“And they are to my specifications I trust, Jace,” a new voice said. It was low and male.

“Of course. What kind of a man would I be if I delivered anything less.”

There was the sound of shifting crates to her left and then a lid opening.

“I don’t know where you get this Drow Poison, but you’re fucking lucky they haven’t killed you for selling their shit yet.”

“Oh I know how to handle a Drow, besides, where would you be if I didn’t?”

“A hell of a lot worse off,” the man said and she heard the sound of coins.

“Always a pleasure doing business with you Arobynn,” Jace responded in a clearly dismissive tone.

“Before I go, did you see anyone on the road from that little fishing town?”

Arabella stopped breathing.

“No, why?” Jace responded, in an appropriately curious voice.

“Apparently some tiefling killed a council member. They’re offering a hundred gold to catch her and drag her back. They want her alive though. I hate when they want them alive.”

“Only a hundred doesn’t quite seem worth my time, now does it? Not when there’s people like you out there willing to pay 225 for a poisoned dagger.” Arabella could almost hear his smile. 

“I’d sooner take my chances with a no name tiefling than whatever Drow you’re dealing with to make money.”

“Well it’s good to know I won’t have any competition any time soon,” Jace said. “Like I said, always a pleasure Arobynn, but now I really think you should get the fuck out of my wagon.”

Arabella heard footsteps retreat and then the sound of the top of her crate opening. 

“Well, Anna. This is where I leave you. We’re behind the general store-”

“You can’t leave me here when they’re looking for me,” Arabella said, not moving and voice barely audible.

“What do you mean they’re looking for you,” Jace said, voice perfectly even. He obviously had some practice with lying to people. Of course he would have to if he was transporting illegal poisons.

“You customer that bought the poisoned blade? He said there was a bounty out for me here. I can’t stay if they’ve already gotten this far.”

“You heard that entire conversation and you speak Thieves’ Cant? The reasons your hometown wants you dead are starting to become much more clear.” Jace had a small smile as he spoke, as if this whole thing was funny to him. 

“Please don’t leave me here. I won’t survive if you do.”

“Oh I am fully aware, but if I take you with me farther, that favor you owe me becomes that much bigger.”

“I’ll do anything.”

“You understand what you’re saying, right? What it is exactly you’re promising? Because a favor is a powerful thing to have over someone, and me saving your life makes that favor pretty big.” 

“I know.”

“And there’s no backing out of this. Whatever I want you  _ will  _ do because you  _ owe  _ me. Whatever I want.”

“I don’t want to die,” Avarice said in an impossibly small voice. 

Jace chuckled darkly. “Oh sweetheart, there are some things so much worse than death.”

And with that, her lid was shut once again and the wagon soon began its movement. The next night passed much the same as the previous one, camped a few hours from Turst Fields. Arabella slept in the dirt, hidden by the wagon and questioned what kind of deal she had just made.

…

The next day and night passed much the same as the previous. Jace told Arabella they were headed to the city of Westruun. The city was so large and had enough criminals that it would be easy to stay hidden. “There are criminals with bounties for thousands of gold,” Jace said. “You’re going to be the name at the bottom of everyone’s priority list, if you even make it on their priority list at all.”

When the wagon arrived at the city gates, Arabella heard Jace talking to a city guard then the sound of footsteps as the wagon was investigated. Jace had prepared her for this. She made extra sure to keep even her breathing quiet as the crates around her were opened.

Once the wagon was given the all clear, Jace drove it farther into the city and Arabella listened to all of the noises around her. There were merchants hawking wears and songs spilling out into the street. Soon enough the wagon stopped and sunlight once again spilled into her dark crate. 

“This is where I leave you for real, sweetheart,” Jace said as she stepped out of the crate for the last time. 

Arabella cautiously looked outside of the wagon and saw they were in an alley across from a bar. Her surroundings were completely unfamiliar. 

“Thank you, Jace. You really saved my life,” Arabella said, giving a small smile to the man, the first one she had in days. 

“You better remember that the next time you see me,” he said, completely serious. “Speaking of which, you see that bar? The Wayward Pony? Go in there and ask for Fetch, but do it all in Thieves’ Cant. He’ll give you a job. I know you were a spy for someone, but you need more practice, and Fetch will get you that. I want you to be your best when I cash in that favor.”

Arabella nodded. She had no plan when she left Drynna and this was some sort of direction. 

“Oh and ‘Anna’ doesn’t really suit you, Arabella.” Arabella froze at her real name being used. “They had your real name on the wanted poster. I think quiet little Arabella would be eaten alive in this city. That’s not who you want to be anymore. You need to be someone better. Someone stronger.” Jace paused for a moment in thought. “You know, lots of Tieflings get trait names.”

“I don’t really know what I’m good at,” Arabella replied, still too scared to look at Jace. 

“Well your sticky fingers could use some work, but you definitely have some,” Jace replied, his sarcastic tone returned. 

“Are you suggesting I call myself Thief? Why not just call myself Guilty and spare everyone’s assumptions?”

“I was thinking something classier, though I like the sass. How about, Avarice,” Jace paused to listen to the sound of the name. “Avarice. It has a nice ring to it.”

“Avarice?” Arabella replied. She supposed she did like nice things, and she had on occasion back home swiped a coin or two from the Rhodor Estate, though they would hardly notice they were missing. 

“Go on, Avarice. There’s a whole new life waiting for you. Everything that happened to Arabella is gone. You’re not her anymore,” Jace said as she stepped out of the wagon.

She wasn’t Arabella anymore. She had stopped being Arabella the moment Vasily accused her of murder and broke her heart into a million pieces. She had stopped being Arabella the minute she left Drynna behind. Arabella was dead. Arabella would have never made it this far. She was Avarice now, and always would be. 


End file.
